For Harry
by Moony245
Summary: Follows Lily and James on the night of October 31, 1981, from their plans for a Halloween party to Voldemort's attack. Not all sad. Read and Review please :D


FOR HARRY

"Harry will you stop fidgeting," Lily lightly scolded as she tried to push her son's tiny arms through the pumpkin costume she had made for him.

"Please don't make him wear that, Lily," James whined from beside his wife. "It's horrible." For as good as Lily was at just about everything else, she could not sew to save her life. She had insisted upon making the costume as her mother had taught her: the Muggle way using needle and thread. James wasn't exactly sure how the Muggle way worked, but he was positive that Lily had done it wrong; the "pumpkin" Harry was now wearing looked more like a misshapen banana.

"Oh hush," Lily quieted, standing back to admire her work. "He looks adorable!"

James rolled his eyes good-naturedly and fought back a snicker. Poor little Harry looked like he was about to cry as his head poked out of the tiny hole in the middle of the pumpkin.

"He hates it," James pointed as Lily picked up the boy.

"He'll learn to love it," Lily assured, heading downstairs. Once in the living room, she placed Harry in a tiny playpen and picked up her wand from the coffee table. She waved it around the room, making pumpkin shaped lights spring from the tip and hang themselves on the trim. They twinkled lightly as she moved into the kitchen and draped the ceiling with orange and black streamers. Satisfied with her work, she waved her wand around her head, and her sweatshirt and jeans changed themselves into an elegant black and violet robe. She topped the look with a black pointed hat. She then placed her wand on the table and picked up the fake spiders she'd made earlier that day.

Just then, James came down the stairs. A light smirk flashed across his handsome face as he took in the decorations. "Don't you think this is a bit much?" he questioned, watching his wife hang the fuzzy spiders from doorknobs and lamps. "I mean, it's just going to be Padfoot."

Lily laughed, "I've been planning tonight for a week," she retorted, still hanging the decorations. "We haven't seen anybody for months, and I want the house to look just right for when Sirius comes over."

James rolled his eyes again, but smiled nonetheless. He could understand her anxiety. It had been nearly six weeks since they'd seen someone outside their little family, and he and Lily were both starting to go a bit mad with only the company of each other and a one-year-old.

It would be a relief when all this was over with, when the Order finally found Voldemort. James and Lily had been in hiding since before Harry was born, and they were well looking forward to the time when they would stop being prisoners within their own home. For now, at least, the three of them were making do, and they were safe, and to them, that's what mattered the most.

Finally, Lily stopped her race around the house and stood in the middle of the living room. Everything was covered with streamers, pumpkins, black cats, and spiders. It may have been a bit much for only one guest, but James had to admit that Lily had done a brilliant job.

"Perfect," Lily sighed in satisfaction. "You think Sirius will like it?"

"He'll love it," James answered truthfully, walking further into the room.

"It's too bad Peter couldn't come," Lily mused, picking Harry up from the play pin and holding him on her hip. "What did he say he was doing again?"

"Something about wanting to spend the night with his mum," James replied. "He doesn't know what he's missing, though," he added as he kissed Lily on the cheek. She smiled before eying him distastefully, as though she'd just noticed something rather odd.

"You're not wearing your costume," she scorned. Lily had made James a Merlin costume nearly a week before, but the effect was the same as it was in poor Harry's costume. The dark blue robe was cut too short for James' long frame, and it came only just passed his knees. The silver stars sewed onto the robe were badly stitched and were falling off in several places. James had only ever tried the outfit on once, but he'd sworn that he would never wear it again, no matter how much satisfaction Lily got out of seeing him wear it. And he was definitely _not_ wearing it in front of Sirius; James would never be able to survive the humiliation.

James groaned. "Lily, _please _don't make me wear that thing," he begged.

"But we all need to be dressed up!" Lily argued. "It's the whole point of Halloween."

"I know," James sighed, ruffling his already messy hair nervously, "but it's just—I mean—I—" he stuttered trying to find the right phrase so that Lily would not be offended. She looked at him with large, pouting eyes, eyes that she knew James would never be able to resist. James sighed heavily, "Fine," he groaned, starting to trudge back up the stairs to fetch the outfit from the bedroom closet.

Just then, there was a thud outside the door, causing James to stop mid step. "Well, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Sirius arrive early for something," Lily piped as James headed for the door. "He's not supposed to be here for another hour."

There was another thud, and James pulled back a bit of the curtain to catch a glimpse of the visitor. Suddenly, he snapped back. "It's _him_," he said in barely a whisper. His face was so pale it was almost green and his voice was hoarse with fear.

"Who?" Lily asked, walking toward the window to see who was at the door. James pushed her back.

"Voldemort," James whispered. His scared brown eyes met her emeralds, and they both shivered in fear.

Lily felt all warmth drain from her body, and she pulled Harry close. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," James instructed, pulling out his wand from his pocket as another thud vibrated the house, "you're going to take Harry and get out of here. I'll hold him off long enough for you two to go ahead."

"I'm not leaving without you!" Lily argued, standing her ground as yet another thud shook the room.

_"Surrender the boy, and you shall not be harmed,"_ a shrill voice pierced through the air outside the house.

"Lily, run!" James yelled. Lily felt fear grip at her, trying to claw its way inside her. She started backing toward the stairs, clutching Harry close to her chest.

Just then, the door was thrust open and a dark figured made its way into the room. "Lily, take Harry and run!" James screeched, turning to face the intruder. Lily felt rooted to the spot, as if her fear prevented her from moving. The hooded man made his way further into the room, his cloak billowing behind him like a cloud of smoke. "LILY!" James yelled again, snapping Lily from her thoughts. She ran up the stairs and around the corner. She crouched on the ground, still hugging her son to her chest. She peered around the corner so she could just see James facing Voldemort.

_"Surrender the boy, Potter!"_ Voldemort screeched.

"Get out!" James yelled, throwing curses at the hooded figure.

Voldemort easily deflected all of James' attacks and laughed coldly. _"You silly boy, thinking you could stand up to me!"_ With a practiced flick of his wand, Voldemort disarmed his opponent. James looked around the room frantically for something, anything he could use to protect himself. He ran into the kitchen and dove behind the table. Voldemort followed after him. He flicked his wand at the table, and it exploded into a million pieces of splintered wood. "Argh!" James yelled, as a large piece hit him in the head.

Lily craned her neck to catch any glimpse she could of her husband. Her breathing grew shallow. James was going to be alright. He had to be alright.

Suddenly, he appeared back in her field of view in the living room. He had a large cut on his temple that spilled blood down his neck.

James whirled around to face Voldemort again.

_"Where's the boy?"_ Voldemort's cold voice pierced through the house.

When James didn't answer, the hooded man flicked his wand, and James crumpled to the ground in pain. He writhed for several seconds before Voldemort released him. _"Tell me where the boy is, and I might spare you,"_ he warned.

"I'll never tell you," James gasped. Voldemort flicked his wand, and James was in pain once again. He was sure his whole body was on fire. It was like he was being turned inside out, like his insides were bursting. The only thing that made the pain bearable was the thought that Lily and Harry would be safe. This was for them.

Finally, Voldemort released James from the curse, and James lay gasping on the floor. _"I'm growing tired of your resistance. This is your last chance to tell me where the boy is."_

James looked up into the dark red eyes and scrunched his face up into a snarl. He didn't say anything, just stared maliciously into the red eyes.

Voldemort hissed angrily from beneath his hood. _"Avada Kedavra!"_ he yelled. A bright green light surged from the tip of Voldemort's wand and hit James square in the face. James was thrust backwards onto his back, and the light left his deep brown eyes.

Lily felt tears burn in her eyes. "JAMES!" she yelled involuntarily. Voldemort's hooded face turned towards her, and she just barely caught a glimpse of the red eyes peering into hers as she practically leapt up from the floor and ran into Harry's room. She reached into her robes for her wand. She would Apparate somewhere, anywhere to get away from this. Her heart sank somewhere into her stomach when she felt that her pockets were empty. _Oh no_, she thought morbidly. She had left her wand on the table while she was setting up decorations.

She locked the door to the room and hugged Harry tightly before placing him in his crib. There was one thing left that she could do, one thing that would protect Harry from Voldemort. She kissed the boy on the forehead. "I love you so much," she cooed, though she knew he could not understand. He looked so like James. Despite his young age, Lily could already tell that Harry was going to have his father's messy hair and tall frame. She could picture him gallivanting around Hogwarts with a large circle of friends as James had always done. She could see him discovering the secrets of the castle and becoming a second generation Marauder (that's what James and his friends had called themselves wasn't it?). He reminded her so much of his father. Except in his eyes. He had her eyes, there was no question about it. It was looking into those emerald green eyes, her own eyes, that she uttered the kind of words that any mother would dread telling a child—their last.

"Harry, we all loved you. Dada and I will always love you." A bang shook the door, and Lily knew that Voldemort would be there any moment. "Be safe, Harry." With that, she gave her son one last kiss on the forehead and turned to face the bedroom door.

With one final bang, Voldemort took the door off its hinges and he strode into the room.

_"Stand aside, silly girl,"_ he warned.

"Not Harry!" Lily begged, tears streaming down her face. "Please! I'll do anything!"

_"Surrender the boy!"_

"No! Please!" Lily pleaded.

_"This is your final warning! Surrender the boy or you will die with him!"_

"NO! Please don't take him!"

Voldemort waved his wand in the air and shouted _"Avada Kedavra!"_ The jet of green light his Lily's chest, and she collapsed to the ground. Her emerald green eyes dimmed until she stared into nothingness.

The last thing she thought before the last rays of life left her was, _For Harry__._

_**I hope you liked this! Send me a Review with your thoughts, please!**_


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